Moldy Crow

The Moldy Crow represented a modified version of the HWK-290 light freighter and served as a transport. After a decade in service, its exterior showed significant wear, appearing as though it had been bombarded by asteroids. The bow bore numerous scars from repeated atmospheric entries. The name Moldy Crow was painted along both of its flanks. Despite its battered appearance, the freighter benefited from a recent engine overhaul. Its shield operated at nearly full capacity, and Kyle Katarn outfitted it with a refurbished navcomp.

The security measures incorporated minuscule, rivet-sized external microcameras. The emergency bypass switch circumvented standard safety protocols, and the navigation computer registered the breach as an exception. In urgent situations, the rapid start-up sequence activated the drives, subsequently bringing the navigation, weapons, and life-support systems online.

Compared to other vessels of its size, the Crow possessed considerable speed and substantial weaponry.

The Moldy Crow was constructed around 10 BBY. It was a member of the Hawk series of transports produced by the Corellian Engineering Corporation's. Initially, it was designed for transporting small cargo shipments between asteroid mines and orbital stations.

Roark Garnet, a smuggler, was among the ship's earliest owners. He used it until he inherited the Dorion Discus from his deceased sister, Neena. Garnet then used the Crow to settle debts with Grappa the Hutt.

Subsequently, Dace Bonearm and IG-72 stole it from Grappa. These two bounty hunters sought the Imperial reward for capturing Winfrid Dagore, a Rebel commander. They employed the ship as a decoy to capture her before abandoning it on the planet Teth. Palob Godalhi, a Lieutenant, acquired the derelict Crow and later relinquished it to the Rebel Dreadnaught New Hope.

For a decade, the Crow remained in the hangar bay of the New Hope under Rebel control. Despite its worn exterior, its engines had been overhauled, and its maintenance logs were meticulously updated.

Mon Mothma assigned it to Kyle Katarn, along with a gig and a dilapidated courier vessel. After thorough inspections of their weapons, defenses, engines, and systems, the Crow proved to be in better condition than the others. In preparation for the Mission to Danuta, he devoted several days to enhancing it with new equipment, ranging from a new navcomp and spare parts to tools and supplies. Rebel specialists fabricated documents to portray it as a civilian freighter transporting high-priority spares from Drog VI for the Brodsport Mining Corporation on Danuta.

The journey lasted five days, primarily under the control of the navcomp. Upon arriving at Danuta, two patrolling TIEs approached the Crow. Katarn identified himself to X-Ray 291 before landing the Crow at the Trid spaceport. Katarn dedicated his first day on Danuta to reconnaissance. While the Crow remained at the spaceport, common thieves attempted to break in on three separate occasions. The Crow's rivet-sized microcameras, connected to its security system, recorded their unsuccessful attempts. Kyle returned for dinner and rest.

The following day, he arranged for Jan Ors to pilot the ship and land atop the Danuta research facility to retrieve him with the Death Star plans. Meanwhile, the customs agent and some Stormtroopers realized that something was amiss with the Drexel character using the ship just as Jan was attempting to board. As they approached her, the ramp retracted, and while the emergency start-up sequence engaged, the soldiers opened fire. However, their blaster bolts proved ineffective against the Crow's shields. Jan lifted the ship, swung it around, and fired the belly gun at the soldiers. She then targeted the nearby TIEs parked in the spaceport to minimize pursuit during their escape. She elevated the Crow three meters and fired at the TIE pilots rushing toward their ships. One pilot managed to launch a TIE while the Crow struggled to stabilize. Jan's shot detonated the enemy vessel, and she proceeded to engage the other pursuing craft before heading west toward the research complex. The same patrol craft that had contacted "Dan Drexel" earlier, X-Ray 291, ordered the Crow to reverse and circled around the ship shooting, but the TIE was also shot down by the belly cannon.

Around that time a makeshift bomb planted by Ors had detonated at the northern perimeter of the complex, attracting the attention of some Imperial forces and the Crow exited a ravine, locking on an AT-ST; the Crow received some hits but soon the walker's command module exploded, and the legs fell on a scout car, while Ors concentrated against the command car before Major Horst had time to order a retreat. The Crow arrived on the rooftop courtyard some time after Kyle reached it holding the memory matrix with the Death Star plans, and covered him with cannon fire against his pursuers, as he hurled himself onto the ramp. The Crow left Danuta's atmosphere in hypersonic speed, and returned to the Rebel base.

Despite his initial reservations about the ship, Kyle would develop an attachment to it during his career as a mercenary, partly due to its name, as he considered himself an outcast. Although the ship was registered to and owned by Katarn, Ors, being the more skilled pilot, typically piloted it.

He later employed it in his mission to uncover and destroy the Dark Trooper Project. More frequently, Ors, Kyle's partner and mission coordinator, piloted the ship for pick-up and drop-off operations. The Crow traveled to Talay following a massacre, where it dropped Katarn near Tak Base to investigate the existence of battle droids. Pursuing the leads, the Crow journeyed to Anoat, where Katarn captured Moff Rebus for interrogation by the Alliance. Further investigation led the Crow to Fest, Gromas, Orinackra, Cal-Seti, and Anteevy.

The ship traveled to Nar Shaddaa to disrupt smuggling operations and discover the location of the Arc Hammer. However, shortly after lifting off from the Smuggler's Moon, the Crow was ensnared in the tractor beams of the luxury yacht Star Jewel, the personal vessel of the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. It turned out that Jabba's smugglers had been assisting the Empire in transporting materials necessary for the Dark Trooper Project across the galaxy. Ors was taken captive, and Katarn narrowly avoided execution due to his combat skills. He eventually recovered his equipment, rescued Ors, and the pair made their way back to the Crow. They then traveled to Coruscant, where Ors engaged in an orbital skirmish against TIEs before dropping Kyle off at Ergo.

The pair continued their work throughout the remainder of the civil war.

After the Battle of Endor, Katarn departed from the Rebellion to return to Nar Shaddaa for an unspecified task. Ors traveled there with the Crow to locate him. Kyle had fallen onto a platform with a TIE bomber from the Imperial Remnant preparing to fire at him, but Ors intervened with her cannon fire. Kyle refused to board, and they agreed to meet again at the top after he finished his task. Katarn did not respond to the radio, and Ors moved toward the flashes of light and explosions, the Crow's sensors showing a commotion of various beings. The bounty hunters who turned around when they heard the ship approaching, attempted to shoot their blasters but the Crow evaded them and swung firing the cannon, killing them. Ors dragged Kyle unconscious up the ramp. During the return trip to Rebel space, Katarn's health fluctuated, and Ors attempted to find assistance using the ship's limited medical resources. Three days later, they arrived at the hospital ship Mercy. After Katarn recovered, the ship had to stay at some repair bay for several days and Jan had to stay behind when Katarn left for Sulon; once the repairs were complete, they met there.

On Sulon, the Crow once again saved Kyle's life as he was escaping from his old farmlands along a highway in a T-4. Se saw him fighting a gang of Grave Tuskens while running straight towards a barricade. She lowered the Crow and started to extend the ramp, and immediately a droid grabbed Kyle and lifted both of them inside the ship. That was moments before the T-4 impacted the barricade resulting in an explosion that killed both Tuskens and Imperials. It turned out that Kyle brought with him not only his family droid WeeGee, but also a lightsaber and some important knowledge about the Map to the Valley of the Jedi, although it was too late for it.

The Crow then was kept hidden as Katarn tried to sneak into Barons Hed and infiltrate Jerec's Dark Tower. There however he was unable to catch 8t88 or bring the Map; Jan landed on the pad of the Tower's roof, evading some battery shots; once Kyle was safe, it flew after 8t88's shuttle, towards Fuel City. There it made a stop near station six, where Sulon Star was parked, causing Captain Zyak to scold Jan, who apologised politely. All this was just to allow enough time for Kyle to drop, after which, and Zyak's threats, she throttled away.

The Crow concealed itself in a hollow, but when it was time again to pick up Kyle, it rose up, surprising a local farmer who lost control of his gravsled; flying low, it skimmed a hilltop and scattered a flock of gra. As usual, the ship arrived in the midst of lightfight between Kyle and Stormtroopers, and Zyak was trying to handle the situation. Jan ignored his orders to leave, and Zyak realised that the ship was responsible for the infiltration and the ensuing chaos. Jan detected four incoming heat-seeking missiles, and responded with chaff, four antimissile missiles, and finally destroyed a storage tank in order to distract any remaining missiles. This caused a chain reaction and tank after tank blew up in succession. The Crow flew among the control tower, fiery pillars and a communications pylon, before approaching the Sulon Star, and Kyle jumped on the open ramp. As TIEs started to emerge, Kyle suggested to retreat to the Nefra Canyons.

Jan led the pursuit far from the City, she piloted the ship between "the twins", two narrow peaks of the Hanto Mountains where a TIE crashed, before diving into a big ravine of the Canyons, pulling the remaining TIE there. Kyle emerged from the top hatch and tried to shoot the pursuer with his blaster; using the Force, he managed some hits on the pilot's transparisteel viewport, right before the Crow evaded a cliff wall, on which the TIE crashed.

Soon after they parked the Crow in an abandoned factory while worked to obtain the map to Ruusan from 8t88's memories; they were visited by Luke Skywalker, and followed him back to the New Hope.

Folowing Luke's X-wing, they hyperspaced to the Milagro system where the New Hope was, just right when the flagship was under attack; it happened that the two ships exited hyperspace just near the Star Destroyer and its escort, revealing thus its location for General Han Solo. The Crow then participated in the battle in the Milagro system. Luke and Kyle persuaded Jan to engage the Destroyer's fighters in order to buy time for reinforments, and break into the defensive screens in order to avoid fire. Imperial Captain Purdy M. Trico was frustrated that he could not destroy the two ships, and resolved to breaking formation so that his gunners get a better shot. This allowed for the Millennium Falcon, followed by the Red, Blue and "Medpac Squadron" to engage the Destroyer directly.

Thanks to Trico's mistake and the combined efforts of the ships, the Destroyer announced its surrender and it was captured along with its escort ships. In the aftermath, Katarn expressed to Mon Mothma his intention to continue pursuing Jerec even without her support. Mothma wondered how the Crow would pass through Jerec's blockade above Ruusan, and it was decided that the Crow could be stowed inside a transport carrying supplies to the Imperials. The High Hauler was chosen and the Crow was parked in her launch bay. According to the cover story, the freighter was a cheap replacement of a lost Imperial shuttle. The Hauler, pilet by Alfonso Luiz Obota, reached the Hoth's Brand system and an hour later it was boarded by an inspection party from the Vengeance, it's assault shuttle parked next to the Crow; Ors, who was the only woman of the strike force, and would seem odd in the Imperial military, remained hidden in the cockpit and tried to monitor the Imperial communications with a rigged comm set. It was only after the inspection when the Imperial Lieutenant noticed the freighter, surprising the Rebel agent who expected a question about it later; nonetheless, the Officer was satisfied with the explanation. Obota asked permission for some supply runs for the Crow, and the Lieutenant offered to clear its transponder signal with flight control on the Vengeance.

After the party's departure and the loading of cargo, consisting of much-needed (sabotaged) proton torpedoes, and for the next sixteen hours, Obota sent the Crow to some missions around the battle group in order to become accepted as part of it and its routine: picking up parts, securing rations, and a training mission which the Rebel agents used as reconnaissance of northern Ruusan. Before departing from the system, the Hauler discreetly left the Crow near the planet.

Released in Ruusan's atmosphere, the Crow, carrying Jan, Kyle and WeeGee, made a reconnaissance of the planet, flying low to avoid any detection. On their way to Fort Nowhere, Kyle picked up a signal forming a primitive binary code which beaconed to a certain location, and Kyle persuaded her to follow it. The signal became stronger as they approached the Fort, ruined in a recent Imperial attack. Failing to detect any survivors, they continued to the south for the landing zone and fifteen minutes later they landed on a flood plain between two dried riverbeds. With he weapon systems online, set for a hot start, Jan exited, holding a remote connected to the ship's sensors. A flyer came and inspected them, and then beckoned them further to the west. Jan had a hard time following the flyer's low speed, until it led them to a courtyard outside an ancient temple; as it turned out, it was the hideout of the battle's survivors led by Sulonese Grif Grawley.

For the next phase of the mission, Katarn, Grawley, a native Bouncer called Floater and Jan took the ship to an area five klicks from the Valley of the Jedi; a night move that required Jan's acute piloting skills. She landed it inside a canyon and they covered the ship with a camouflage netting. Once more, Kyle insisted that WeeGee should remain on board as Floater would guide the humans to the canyon. However their presence was reported by AD-43 and felt by Jerec. While Kyle tried to sneak into the Valley, Imperials captured Ors who remained behind, and found the Crow parked in the canyon. It was taken onboard the Sulon Star, docked on the Valley Tower. Kyle saw the Crow docked there while searching the tower, and had moments to realize that it was captured; he didn't have time to worry about Jan because he soon met Jerec and his Dark Jedi.

In that confrontation, Kyle was pushed back by Jerec's Force destruction blast, thrown inside the Sulon Star's airlock. Its support systems damaged by the blast, Kyle's only option was to reach the docking port. From there, he managed to reach his ship in the docking port and escape the disaster. He activated the emergency start up and went free from the larger ship without the safety procedures. The ship gained some distance from the crashing freighter, however, the shockwave of the explosion was too strong, and the Crow broke its port wing on a rock formation, and crashed nearby.

She was soon replaced by the pair's new ship, the Raven's Claw.

Initially, during the game's development, the ship was simply named Crow and was conceived as a Baudo-class star yacht. Furthermore, it was not a 3-D polygonal object but rather a two-dimensional bitmap sprite rendered from various viewing angles.

In the alternate dark side ending of Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, the Moldy Crow survived. Kyle successfully avoided the rocks and landed the ship. This was its last appearance before his rematch with Yun.

The novel Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire and its audio drama depict Kyle Katarn's first encounter with the Crow. However, Kyle's reaction differs between the two versions. In the novel, he is given the choice between multiple ships and ultimately prefers the Crow. In the audio drama, he is assigned the Crow without any choice, expressing his dislike for it and stating that "it is not even a ship".

The Dark Forces: Jedi Knight audio drama diverges from the game Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and the Dark Forces: Jedi Knight novella. In the audio drama, Katarn witnesses the Moldy Crow being captured in a dock of the Valley Tower. The confrontation with Jerec is different, and Katarn runs directly to the Crow to flee Jerec.

The Moldy Crow was planned to be included in Star Wars: Empire at War, but it did not make the final cut. However, it does appear in Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption as the dropship for the hero Kyle Katarn, but only in skirmish mode.